Submission to Authority

13Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution,[a]whether it be to the emperor[b]as supreme,14or to governors as sent by himto punish those who do evil andto praise those who do good.15For this is the will of God,that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.16Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, butliving as servants[c]of God.17Honor everyone.Love the brotherhood.Fear God. Honor the emperor.

18Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.19For this is a gracious thing, when,mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.20For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? Butif when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.21Forto this you have been called,because Christ also suffered for you,leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.22He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.23When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten,but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that wemight die to sin andlive to righteousness.By his wounds you have been healed.25Foryou were straying like sheep, but have now returned tothe Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

A Living Stone and a Holy People

2So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.2Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritualmilk, that by it you may grow up into salvation3if indeed you havetasted that the Lord is good.

4As you come to him, a living stonerejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,5you yourselves like living stones are being built up asa spiritual house, to bea holy priesthood,to offer spiritual sacrificesacceptable to God through Jesus Christ.6For it stands in Scripture:

Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,a cornerstone chosen and precious,and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.

7So the honor is for you whobelieve, but for those whodo not believe,

The stone that the builders rejectedhas become the cornerstone,[a]

8and

A stone of stumbling,and a rock of offense.

They stumble because they disobey the word,as they were destined to do.

9But you area chosen race,a royalpriesthood,a holy nation,a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called youout of darkness intohis marvelous light.10Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

11Beloved, I urge youas sojourners and exilesto abstain from the passions of the flesh,which wage war against your soul.12Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers,they may see your good deeds and glorify God onthe day of visitation.

Called to Be Holy

13Therefore,preparing your minds for action,[a]andbeing sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.14As obedient children,do not be conformed to the passionsof your former ignorance,15butas he who called you is holy, you also be holyin all your conduct,16since it is written,You shall be holy, for I am holy.17And if youcall on him as Father whojudgesimpartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselveswith fear throughout the time of your exile,18knowing that youwere ransomed fromthe futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,19butwith the precious blood of Christ, like that ofa lambwithout blemish or spot.20He was foreknown before the foundation of the world butwas made manifestin the last times for the sake of you21who through him are believers in God,who raised him from the dead andgave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

22Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth fora sincere brotherly love,love one another earnestly from a pure heart,23since you have been born again,not of perishable seed but of imperishable, throughthe living and abiding word of God;24for

All flesh is like grassand all its glory like the flower of grass.The grass withers,and the flower falls,25but the word of the Lord remains forever.

And this wordis the good news that was preached to you.

Greeting

1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who are elect exiles ofthe Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,2according tothe foreknowledge of God the Father,in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ andfor sprinkling with his blood:

Maygrace andpeace be multiplied to you.

Born Again to a Living Hope

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!According to his great mercy,he has caused us to be born again to a living hopethrough the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,4toan inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, andunfading,kept in heaven for you,5who by God's power are being guardedthrough faith for a salvationready to be revealed in the last time.6In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved byvarious trials,7so thatthe tested genuineness of your faithmore precious than gold that perishesthough it is tested byfiremay be found to result inpraise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.8Though you have not seen him, you love him.Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,9obtainingthe outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10Concerning this salvation,the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,11inquiringwhat person or time[a]the Spirit of Christ in them was indicatingwhen he predictedthe sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.12It was revealed to them thatthey were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to youby the Holy Spirit sent from heaven,things into which angels long to look.

3For I will proclaim the name of theLord;ascribegreatness to our God!

4The Rock,his work is perfect,forall his ways are justice.A God of faithfulness andwithout iniquity,just and upright is he.

Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

139OLord, you havesearched me and known me!2Youknow when I sit down and when I rise up;youdiscern my thoughts from afar.3You search out my path and my lying downand are acquainted with all my ways.4Even before a word is on my tongue,behold, OLord,you know it altogether.5Youhem me in, behind and before,andlay your hand upon me.6Such knowledge istoo wonderful for me;it is high; I cannot attain it.

7Where shall I go from your Spirit?Or whereshall I flee from your presence?8If I ascend to heaven, you are there!If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!9If I take the wings of the morningand dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,10even there your hand shalllead me,and your right hand shall hold me.11If I say,Surely the darkness shall cover me,and the light about me be night,12even the darkness is not dark to you;the night is bright as the day,for darkness is as light with you.